Princeton Plasma Physics Lab - Quality assurancehttp://www.pppl.gov/about/learn-more/quality-assurance
Quality: the characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.Quality Assurance: the planned and systematic activities implemented to provide confidence that a product or service will fulfill its requirements for quality.enResearchers find 3-D printed parts to provide low-cost, custom alternatives for laboratory equipmenthttp://www.pppl.gov/news/press-releases/2015/02/researchers-find-3-d-printed-parts-provide-low-cost-custom-alternatives
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The 3-D printing scene, a growing favorite of do-it-yourselfers, has spread to the study of plasma physics. With a series of experiments, researchers at PPPL have found that 3-D printers can be an important tool in laboratory environments.</p><p>"The printer is now a crucial piece of our laboratory and used regularly," said Andrew Zwicker, the head of Science Education at PPPL and lead author of a paper that reports the results in the <a href="http://scitation.aip.org/content/aapt/journal/ajp/83/3/10.1119/1.4900746?aemail=author" rel="nofollow">current issue</a> of the American Journal of Physics. "The versatility of the printer is such that our first reaction to an equipment need is no longer whether we can find or purchase the required piece of equipment, but can we print it?"</p><p>Three-dimensional printers create objects by laying down layers of material, whether plastic, metal, ceramic or organic. A computer controls a moveable nozzle that extrudes the hot material according to digital computer-aided design (CAD) files. Each layer is thin, often measuring only several hundred millionths of a meter in height.</p><p><strong>Customized parts</strong></p><p>Hobbyists have used 3-D printers to build curiosities such as sets of interlocking rings. But researchers have become interested because the printers can build customized parts for experiments, often at very low cost. And because a 3-D printer can produce parts quickly, the time between when a need is recognized and when a part is ready to install can be just a few hours.</p><p>During the experiments, Zwicker and his team printed plastic parts, including a cone and a cylinder, to test basic properties such as size, shape, use as an electrical insulator and ability to operate in a vacuum. The researchers also printed parts for an electrode in a plasma physics experiment, and replacement parts, such as a guard for a cooling fan and a handle for a piece of test equipment. Zwicker needed to see if the parts could withstand moderate vacuum environments in some plasma physics experiments and could withstand physical stresses. The team also needed to determine whether the dimensions of the parts matched the specifications of the designs.</p><p>The dimensions proved accurate, but only up to a point: On average, the individual layers were larger or smaller than the specifications by a fraction of a millimeter. While this degree of accuracy was not enough for objects that had to be built with a high level of precision, it was good enough for many laboratory purposes.</p><p><strong>Passing tests</strong></p><p>The plastic parts passed the vacuum tests and stress tests, too. Zwicker wanted to know if the parts began to emit hydrocarbon gas — as plastics sometimes do — that would contaminate the vacuum and ruin plasma experiments at moderate pressures. But as long as the plastic was kept below 75 degrees Celsius, no hydrocarbon gas was detected.</p><p>Next, the team placed small bars of 3-D printed plastic in a machine that tested the ability of a material to withstand pulling, and found that printing did not weaken the material. In general, the strength of printed parts matched that of bulk plastic.</p><p>Finally, Zwicker found that a 3-D printer was an important tool for producing dielectric insulators for electrodes.</p><p>"The ability to print this material in any size, shape, or configuration provided an unmatched flexibility to quickly and efficiently test new configuration ideas for different experimental conditions," Zwicker said.</p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-headline field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Headline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Researchers find 3-D printed parts to provide low-cost, custom alternatives for laboratory equipment</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-article-byline field-type-name field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Byline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Raphael Rosen</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-highlighted-related-image field-type-image field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Highlighted Related Image:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/planeterrella_0.jpg" width="447" height="564" alt="3-D printed parts provide the stands for the aluminum globes in PPPL&#039;s Planeterrella, a device that simulates Northern Lights." title="Elle Starkman/PPPL Office of Communications" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-additional-related-gallery field-type-image field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Additional Related Gallery:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/handle_0.jpg" width="248" height="331" alt="This 3-D printed part replaced the meter&#039;s original handle. " /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-expert-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Expert Topics:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/education">Education</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/engineering">Engineering</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/plasma-physics">Plasma physics</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/quality-assurance">Quality assurance</a></div></div></div>Thu, 26 Feb 2015 19:31:25 +0000jgreenwa2864 at http://www.pppl.govResearchers find 3-D printed parts to provide low-cost, custom alternatives for laboratory equipmenthttp://www.pppl.gov/news/2015/02/researchers-find-3-d-printed-parts-provide-low-cost-custom-alternatives-laboratory
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span>The 3-D printing scene, a growing favorite of do-it-yourselfers, has spread to the study of plasma physics. With a series of experiments, researchers at PPPL have found that 3-D printers can be an important tool in laboratory environments.</span></p><p>"The printer is now a crucial piece of our laboratory and used regularly," said Andrew Zwicker, the head of Science Education at PPPL and lead author of a paper that reports the results in the <a href="http://scitation.aip.org/content/aapt/journal/ajp/83/3/10.1119/1.4900746?aemail=author" rel="nofollow">current issue</a> of the American Journal of Physics. "The versatility of the printer is such that our first reaction to an equipment need is no longer whether we can find or purchase the required piece of equipment, but can we print it?"</p><p>Three-dimensional printers create objects by laying down layers of material, whether plastic, metal, ceramic or organic. A computer controls a moveable nozzle that extrudes the hot material according to digital computer-aided design (CAD) files. Each layer is thin, often measuring only several hundred millionths of a meter in height.</p><p><strong>Customized parts</strong></p><p>Hobbyists have used 3-D printers to build curiosities such as sets of interlocking rings. But researchers have become interested because the printers can build customized parts for experiments, often at very low cost. And because a 3-D printer can produce parts quickly, the time between when a need is recognized and when a part is ready to install can be just a few hours.</p><p>During the experiments, Zwicker and his team printed plastic parts, including a cone and a cylinder, to test basic properties such as size, shape, use as an electrical insulator and ability to operate in a vacuum. The researchers also printed parts for an electrode in a plasma physics experiment, and replacement parts, such as a guard for a cooling fan and a handle for a piece of test equipment. Zwicker needed to see if the parts could withstand moderate vacuum environments in some plasma physics experiments and could withstand physical stresses. The team also needed to determine whether the dimensions of the parts matched the specifications of the designs.</p><p>The dimensions proved accurate, but only up to a point: On average, the individual layers were larger or smaller than the specifications by a fraction of a millimeter. While this degree of accuracy was not enough for objects that had to be built with a high level of precision, it was good enough for many laboratory purposes.</p><p><strong>Passing tests</strong></p><p>The plastic parts passed the vacuum tests and stress tests, too. Zwicker wanted to know if the parts began to emit hydrocarbon gas — as plastics sometimes do — that would contaminate the vacuum and ruin plasma experiments at moderate pressures. But as long as the plastic was kept below 75 degrees Celsius, no hydrocarbon gas was detected.</p><p>Next, the team placed small bars of 3-D printed plastic in a machine that tested the ability of a material to withstand pulling, and found that printing did not weaken the material. In general, the strength of printed parts matched that of bulk plastic.</p><p>Finally, Zwicker found that a 3-D printer was an important tool for producing dielectric insulators for electrodes.</p><p>"The ability to print this material in any size, shape, or configuration provided an unmatched flexibility to quickly and efficiently test new configuration ideas for different experimental conditions," Zwicker said.</p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-spotlight field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Spotlight:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-highlighted-related-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/planeterrella.jpg" width="447" height="564" alt="3-D printed parts provide the stands for the aluminum globes in PPPL&#039;s Planeterrella, a device that simulates Northern Lights." title="Elle Starkman/PPPL Office of Communications" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-article-byline field-type-name field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Byline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Raphael Rosen </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-headline field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Headline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Researchers find 3-D printed parts to provide low-cost, custom alternatives for laboratory equipment</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-additional-related-gallery field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/handle.jpg" width="248" height="331" alt="This 3-D printed part replaced the meter&#039;s original handle." /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-expert-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Expert Topics:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/education">Education</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/engineering">Engineering</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/plasma-physics">Plasma physics</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/quality-assurance">Quality assurance</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/science-literacy">Science literacy</a></div></div></div>Thu, 26 Feb 2015 19:07:04 +0000jgreenwa2863 at http://www.pppl.govPanel ensures safe operation of the $94 million NSTX Upgradehttp://www.pppl.gov/news/press-releases/2015/01/panel-ensures-safe-operation-94-million-nstx-upgrade
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Like a new passenger jet or power plant, the National Spherical Torus Upgrade (NSTX-U) must be certified safe to operate. At the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), the task of evaluating the safety of the $94 million upgrade belongs to the Activity Certification Committee (ACC), whose work remains ongoing. “This is a critical group,” said Adam Cohen, deputy director for operations at the Laboratory. “When you have a complex activity like the upgrade you need a standing committee to guarantee that it will run safely.”</p><p>For nearly two years the ACC has reviewed key components of the upgrade, which is scheduled for completion in March and will make the NSTX-U the most powerful spherical fusion facility on Earth. The group conducts hands-on inspections — or “walkdowns” — of all systems and subsystems and reviews training and pre-operational test procedures. “It’s very vital and reassuring when the ACC says we’re ready to go,” said Mike Williams, director of engineering and infrastructure and associate director of the Laboratory.</p><p><strong>“Defense in Depth”</strong></p><p>The committee’s work augments detailed design reviews and safety checks that engineers and other staffers have undertaken. “Even though the Lab has a lot of processes, we go into the field to give added assurance that the upgrade will be safe,” said Charles Gentile, chair of the ACC, whose eight members represent the PPPL safety, engineering and research departments and the DOE site office. The committee provides “defense in depth,” he said.</p><p>For example, the ACC checks to make sure that all procedures are followed, all potential hazards identified and all safety issues addressed. “We get into the weeds,” Gentile said. The group asks about not only what works, he noted, but about what didn’t work at first and how it was fixed.</p><p>The ACC is free to recommend changes. Gentile led the group that evaluated the original NSTX, which operated from 1999 to 2011 before work began on the upgrade. When that ACC called for installation of more emergency stop buttons and an additional stairway in the NSTX test cell, both recommendations were rigorously followed.</p><p><strong>Safety certificate</strong><span> </span></p><p>The current committee is to deliver a report that recommends issuance of a safety certificate that authorizes the NSTX-U to operate and describes the terms under which the facility is to run. This report will go to the PPPL Environment, Safety and Health (ES&amp;H) Executive Board , the Laboratory’s advisory board for ES&amp;H issues, for review. Final approval of the safety certificate and subsequent operations must then come from Cohen, who chairs the executive board, with concurrence from the DOE site office.</p><p>The current ACC evaluation is going well, said committee member Jerry Levine, who heads the Environment, Safety, Health &amp; Security Department and will draft the safety certificate for Cohen to approve with site-office concurrence. While the final report may recommend changes, “we haven’t found any showstoppers,” Levine said.</p><p>Committees don’t disband once a certificate is issued. They remain on call throughout the life of a facility to evaluate any changes that could affect safety and to recommend any amendments that may be required. The ES&amp;H Executive Board amended the certificate of the original NSTX several times, on the advice of the committee, after the Laboratory installed new plasma control equipment and modified other parts of the machine.</p><p>The painstaking work of such committees makes them invaluable — if largely unsung — contributors to the research at PPPL. Their scrutiny, says Cohen, “underlies the extremely solid design and construction that produces the equipment and results that outsiders to the Laboratory find incredible.”</p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-headline field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Headline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Panel ensures safe operation of the $94 million NSTX Upgrade</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-article-byline field-type-name field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Byline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">John Greenwald</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-highlighted-related-image field-type-image field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Highlighted Related Image:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/ACC%20committee_0.jpg" width="1124" height="749" alt="Members inspect the chief operating engineer&#039;s station in the NSTX-U control room. Seated from left, John Lacenere, Larry Dudek. Standing from left, Anthony Indelicato, Tracy Estes, Stefan Gerhardt, Tim Stevenson, Al von Halle, Jerry Levine, Charles Gentile." title="Elle Starkman/PPPL Office of Communications" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-expert-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Expert Topics:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/ac-power">AC power</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/engineering">Engineering</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/laser-diagnostics">Laser diagnostics</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/nstx-u">NSTX-U</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/nuclear-energy">Nuclear energy</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/nuclear-safety">Nuclear safety</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/plasma-physics">Plasma physics</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/power-system-design">Power system design</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/power-systems">Power systems</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/quality-assurance">Quality assurance</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/tokamaks">Tokamaks</a></div></div></div>Thu, 15 Jan 2015 14:39:26 +0000jgreenwa2822 at http://www.pppl.govPanel ensures safe operation of the $94 million NSTX Upgradehttp://www.pppl.gov/news/2015/01/panel-ensures-safe-operation-94-million-nstx-upgrade
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Like a new passenger jet or power plant, the National Spherical Torus Upgrade (NSTX-U) must be certified safe to operate. At the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), the task of evaluating the safety of the $94 million upgrade belongs to the Activity Certification Committee (ACC), whose work remains ongoing. “This is a critical group,” said Adam Cohen, deputy director for operations at the Laboratory. “When you have a complex activity like the upgrade you need a standing committee to guarantee that it will run safely.”</p><p>For nearly two years the ACC has reviewed key components of the upgrade, which is scheduled for completion in March and will make the NSTX-U the most powerful spherical fusion facility on Earth. The group conducts hands-on inspections — or “walkdowns” — of all systems and subsystems and reviews training and pre-operational test procedures. “It’s very vital and reassuring when the ACC says we’re ready to go,” said Mike Williams, director of engineering and infrastructure and associate director of the Laboratory.</p><p><strong>“Defense in Depth”</strong></p><p>The committee’s work augments detailed design reviews and safety checks that engineers and other staffers have undertaken. “Even though the Lab has a lot of processes, we go into the field to give added assurance that the upgrade will be safe,” said Charles Gentile, chair of the ACC, whose eight members represent the PPPL safety, engineering and research departments and the DOE site office. The committee provides “defense in depth,” he said.</p><p>For example, the ACC checks to make sure that all procedures are followed, all potential hazards identified and all safety issues addressed. “We get into the weeds,” Gentile said. The group asks about not only what works, he noted, but about what didn’t work at first and how it was fixed.</p><p>The ACC is free to recommend changes. Gentile led the group that evaluated the original NSTX, which operated from 1999 to 2011 before work began on the upgrade. When that ACC called for installation of more emergency stop buttons and an additional stairway in the NSTX test cell, both recommendations were rigorously followed.</p><p><strong>Safety certificate</strong><span> </span></p><p>The current committee is to deliver a report that recommends issuance of a safety certificate that authorizes the NSTX-U to operate and describes the terms under which the facility is to run. This report will go to the PPPL Environment, Safety and Health (ES&amp;H) Executive Board , the Laboratory’s advisory board for ES&amp;H issues, for review. Final approval of the safety certificate and subsequent operations must then come from Cohen, who chairs the executive board, with concurrence from the DOE site office.</p><p>The current ACC evaluation is going well, said committee member Jerry Levine, who heads the Environment, Safety, Health &amp; Security Department and will draft the safety certificate for Cohen to approve with site-office concurrence. While the final report may recommend changes, “we haven’t found any showstoppers,” Levine said.</p><p>Committees don’t disband once a certificate is issued. They remain on call throughout the life of a facility to evaluate any changes that could affect safety and to recommend any amendments that may be required. The ES&amp;H Executive Board amended the certificate of the original NSTX several times, on the advice of the committee, after the Laboratory installed new plasma control equipment and modified other parts of the machine.</p><p>The painstaking work of such committees makes them invaluable — if largely unsung — contributors to the research at PPPL. Their scrutiny, says Cohen, “underlies the extremely solid design and construction that produces the equipment and results that outsiders to the Laboratory find incredible.”</p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-spotlight field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Spotlight:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">This News item should show up in the Spotlight on the homepage.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-highlighted-related-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/ACC%20committee.jpg" width="1124" height="749" alt="Members inspect the chief operating engineer&#039;s station in the NSTX-U control room. Seated from left, John Lacenere, Larry Dudek. Standing from left, Anthony Indelicato, Tracy Estes, Stefan Gerhardt, Tim Stevenson, Al von Halle, Jerry Levine, Charles Gentile." title="Elle Starkman/PPPL Office of Communications" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-article-byline field-type-name field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Byline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">John Greenwald</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-headline field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Headline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Panel ensures safe operation of the $94 million NSTX Upgrade</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-expert-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Expert Topics:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/ac-power">AC power</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/engineering">Engineering</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/fusion-energy">Fusion energy</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/laser-diagnostics">Laser diagnostics</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/nstx-u">NSTX-U</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/nuclear-energy">Nuclear energy</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/nuclear-safety">Nuclear safety</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/plasma-physics">Plasma physics</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/power-system-design">Power system design</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/power-systems">Power systems</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/quality-assurance">Quality assurance</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/tokamaks">Tokamaks</a></div></div></div>Mon, 12 Jan 2015 21:09:39 +0000jgreenwa2819 at http://www.pppl.govPPPL and USDA engineers win patent for pasteurizing eggs in the shellhttp://www.pppl.gov/news/2014/12/pppl-and-usda-engineers-win-patent-pasteurizing-eggs-shell
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted a patent to a novel technique and device for pasteurizing eggs developed by engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The award marks the 27<sup>th</sup> patent granted to PPPL inventors since 1994.</p><p>“This is a unique experience for me,” said Chris Brunkhorst, an expert in radio frequency (RF) heating at PPPL. “It’s the first time I’ve had a patent awarded.” Brunkhorst holds the patent with David Geveke, research chemical engineer and lead scientist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Wyndmoor, Pa., and Andrew Bigley, an engineering technician recently retired from the USDA.</p><p>The three inventors will share in any revenue that comes from licensing the invention. Princeton University holds joint rights to the technology with the USDA, which is in talks to license it to an industrial user.</p><p>The invention uses RF energy to transmit heat through the shell and into the yolk while the egg rotates. Streams of cool water simultaneously flow over the egg to protect the delicate white. Researchers then bathe the egg in hot water to complete the pasteurization process.</p><p>The invention can pasteurize shell eggs in one-third the time that current methods require, according to Geveke. And unlike such methods, which heat the eggs in water for about an hour, the invention doesn’t affect the appearance of the egg white, he said. The aim is to produce a pasteurized egg “that is hardly discernible from a fresh, nonpasteurized egg,” he noted.</p><p>Adam Cohen, deputy director for operations at PPPL, applauded the patent as an example of the high quality of the work of Laboratory staffers and encouraged researchers, engineers and technicians to disclose their inventions to the PPPL Office of Technology Transfer. “People here are incredibly creative and inventive,” Cohen said, “and the process of finding out where their discoveries may lead starts with disclosure.”</p><p>The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.</p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-spotlight field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Spotlight:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-highlighted-related-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/CBrunkhorst.jpg" width="1365" height="1000" alt="PPPL engineer Chris Brunkhorst displays an egg while a computer image simulates the levels of RF power that different parts of an egg absorbed during an experiment." title="Elle Starkman/PPPL Office of Communications" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-article-byline field-type-name field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Byline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">John Greenwald</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-headline field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Headline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">PPPL and USDA engineers win patent for pasteurizing eggs in the shell</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-expert-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Expert Topics:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/engineering">Engineering</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/quality-assurance">Quality assurance</a></div></div></div>Mon, 15 Dec 2014 15:30:10 +0000jgreenwa2799 at http://www.pppl.govPPPL teams up with USDA to produce new egg pasteurization methodhttp://www.pppl.gov/news/press-releases/2013/09/pppl-teams-usda-produce-new-egg-pasteurization-method
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have developed a novel technique and device for rapidly pasteurizing eggs in the shell without damaging the delicate egg white. The process could lead to a sharp reduction in illnesses caused by egg-borne salmonella bacteria, a widespread public health concern.</p><p>The new method uses radio frequency (RF) energy to transmit heat through the shell and into the yolk while the egg rotates. Streams of cool water simultaneously flow over the egg to protect the white. Researchers then bathe the egg in hot water to pasteurize the white and finish pasteurizing the yolk.</p><p>The aim is to produce a pasteurized egg that is "hardly discernible from a fresh, nonpasteurized egg," said DavidGeveke, lead scientist, at the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Wyndmoor, Pa. His laboratory teamed up with PPPL engineer Christopher Brunkhorst, an expert in RF heating, to develop the device.</p><p>The roughly shoebox-size prototype can pasteurize shell eggs in about one-third of the time that current methods require, Geveke said. Such methods place the eggs in heated water for about an hour and visibly change the appearance of the egg white. The RF process, by contrast, maintains the egg white's transparency.</p><p>Federal regulations require pasteurization of raw liquid egg products used in commercially sold dishes such as ice cream, eggnog, sauces and dressings, but no similar rule covers eggs in the shell. Fewer than one-half of 1 percent of all shell eggs produced for retail sale in the United State are pasteurized, according to an estimate by the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the USDA.</p><p>While only a small fraction of shell eggs may harbor salmonella, the public health risk posed by consumption of raw or undercooked eggs stems from the fact that millions of eggs are eaten each day. The hazard is greatest for people with weakened immune systems, including the very young, the very old and hospital patients. The USDA estimates that pasteurizing all U.S.-produced shell eggs could reduce the number of egg-borne salmonella illnesses by up to 85 percent, or more than 110,000 cases a year.</p><p>Brunkhorst, a 30-year veteran of PPPL and member of the lab's engineering and scientific staff, has helped design large RF heating systems for fusion energy experiments. He began assisting the Wyndmoor-based project in 2010 after working with the USDA on previous ventures. "It's turned out to be a really good fit," said Brunkhorst, who co-invented the pasteurization device with Geveke and USDA engineering technician Andrew Bigley.</p><p>They benefited from joining forces because pasteurizing shell eggs can be a tricky task. "You have to raise the temperature high enough to kill bacteria, but not high enough to cook the egg," Brunkhorst said. "You're really threading the needle on this."</p><p>Further complicating the process is the fact that the egg white is more sensitive to overheating than the yolk is. But the RF energy must pass through the white in order to reach the yolk, which requires a higher temperature to pasteurize.</p><p>The system works through what is known as "ohmic heating," in which the RF energy creates an electric current that produces heat inside the egg. Food-processing firms employ a similar system for heating, baking and drying a wide range of products. Brunkhorst brought test equipment into his own kitchen to experiment with RF frequencies that the researchers then tried out in the Wyndmoor laboratory.</p><p>The USDA prototype, which the agency has applied to patent, couples RF energy through the shell by placing electrodes against opposite sides of the egg. The egg rests on rollers that turn it to distribute the heat and cooling water evenly.</p><p>"The goal is to reach a certain temperature for a certain time," Brunkhorst said.</p><p>Researchers then take a sample of the egg and do a bacteria count.</p><p>"We've proven the effectiveness analytically," Brunkhorst said.</p><p>The USDA is seeking a licensee to commercialize the product. Potential partners include egg producers and manufacturers of egg-processing equipment.</p><p>"We have received quite a bit of interest from industry," Geveke said. "We expect to have a partner in the next few months."</p><p>PPPL, on Princeton University's Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro, N.J., is devoted to creating new knowledge about the physics of plasmas — ultra-hot, charged gases — and to developing practical solutions for the creation of fusion energy. Results of PPPL research have ranged from a portable nuclear materials detector for anti-terrorist use to universally employed computer codes for analyzing and predicting the outcome of fusion experiments. The laboratory is managed by the University for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. </p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-headline field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Headline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">PPPL teams up with USDA to produce new egg pasteurization method</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-article-byline field-type-name field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Byline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">John Greenwald</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-highlighted-related-image field-type-image field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Highlighted Related Image:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/press-releases/highlighted-image/C.%20Brunkhorst%20635%20KB.jpg" width="1365" height="1000" alt="PPPL engineer Chris Brunkhorst displays an egg while a computer image simulates the levels of RF power that different parts of an egg absorbed during an experiment." title="Elle Starkman/PPPL Office of Communications" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-additional-related-gallery field-type-image field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Additional Related Gallery:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/press-releases/related-gallery/D.%20Geveke%20and%20A.%20Bigley.jpg" width="1800" height="1200" alt="USDA researchers David Geveke, left, and Andrew Bigley in the USDA&#039;s Wyndmoor, Pa., research center. " title="Joseph Sites/ USDA" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-expert-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Expert Topics:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/engineering">Engineering</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/fusion-energy">Fusion energy</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/power-system-design">Power system design</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/power-systems">Power systems</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/quality-assurance">Quality assurance</a></div></div></div>Tue, 03 Sep 2013 19:24:25 +0000jgreenwa1608 at http://www.pppl.govPPPL teams up with USDA to produce new egg pasteurization methodhttp://www.pppl.gov/news/2013/08/pppl-teams-usda-produce-new-egg-pasteurization-method-0
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have developed a novel technique and device for rapidly pasteurizing eggs in the shell without damaging the delicate egg white. The process could lead to a sharp reduction in illnesses caused by egg-borne salmonella bacteria, a widespread public health concern.</p><p>The new method uses radio frequency (RF) energy to transmit heat through the shell and into the yolk while the egg rotates. Streams of cool water simultaneously flow over the egg to protect the white. Researchers then bathe the egg in hot water to pasteurize the white and finish pasteurizing the yolk.</p><p>The aim is to produce a pasteurized egg that is "hardly discernible from a fresh, nonpasteurized egg," said DavidGeveke, lead scientist, at the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Wyndmoor, Pa. His laboratory teamed up with PPPL engineer Christopher Brunkhorst, an expert in RF heating, to develop the device.</p><p>The roughly shoebox-size prototype can pasteurize shell eggs in about one-third of the time that current methods require, Geveke said. Such methods place the eggs in heated water for about an hour and visibly change the appearance of the egg white. The RF process, by contrast, maintains the egg white's transparency.</p><p>Federal regulations require pasteurization of raw liquid egg products used in commercially sold dishes such as ice cream, eggnog, sauces and dressings, but no similar rule covers eggs in the shell. Fewer than one-half of 1 percent of all shell eggs produced for retail sale in the United State are pasteurized, according to an estimate by the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the USDA.</p><p>While only a small fraction of shell eggs may harbor salmonella, the public health risk posed by consumption of raw or undercooked eggs stems from the fact that millions of eggs are eaten each day. The hazard is greatest for people with weakened immune systems, including the very young, the very old and hospital patients. The USDA estimates that pasteurizing all U.S.-produced shell eggs could reduce the number of egg-borne salmonella illnesses by up to 85 percent, or more than 110,000 cases a year.</p><p>Brunkhorst, a 30-year veteran of PPPL and member of the lab's engineering and scientific staff, has helped design large RF heating systems for fusion energy experiments. He began assisting the Wyndmoor-based project in 2010 after working with the USDA on previous ventures.</p><p>"It's turned out to be a really good fit," said Brunkhorst, who co-invented the pasteurization device with Geveke and USDA engineering technician Andrew Bigley.</p><p>They benefited from joining forces because pasteurizing shell eggs can be a tricky task.</p><p>"You have to raise the temperature high enough to kill bacteria, but not high enough to cook the egg," Brunkhorst said. "You're really threading the needle on this."</p><p>Further complicating the process is the fact that the egg white is more sensitive to overheating than the yolk is. But the RF energy must pass through the white in order to reach the yolk, which requires a higher temperature to pasteurize.</p><p>The system works through what is known as "ohmic heating," in which the RF energy creates an electric current that produces heat inside the egg. Food-processing firms employ a similar system for heating, baking and drying a wide range of products. Brunkhorst brought test equipment into his own kitchen to experiment with RF frequencies that the researchers then tried out in the Wyndmoor laboratory.</p><p>The USDA prototype, which the agency has applied to patent, couples RF energy through the shell by placing electrodes against opposite sides of the egg. The egg rests on rollers that turn it to distribute the heat and cooling water evenly.</p><p>"The goal is to reach a certain temperature for a certain time," Brunkhorst said.</p><p>Researchers then take a sample of the egg and do a bacteria count.</p><p>"We've proven the effectiveness analytically," Brunkhorst said.</p><p>The USDA is seeking a licensee to commercialize the product. Potential partners include egg producers and manufacturers of egg-processing equipment.</p><p>"We have received quite a bit of interest from industry," Geveke said. "We expect to have a partner in the next few months."</p><p>PPPL, on Princeton University's Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro, N.J., is devoted to creating new knowledge about the physics of plasmas — ultra-hot, charged gases — and to developing practical solutions for the creation of fusion energy. Results of PPPL research have ranged from a portable nuclear materials detector for anti-terrorist use to universally employed computer codes for analyzing and predicting the outcome of fusion experiments. The laboratory is managed by the University for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. </p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-spotlight field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Spotlight:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-highlighted-related-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/article/highlighted-related-image/C.%20Brunkhorst%201.jpg" width="1365" height="1000" alt="PPPL engineer Chris Brunkhorst displays an egg while a computer image simulates the levels of RF power that different parts of an egg absorbed during an experiment." title="Elle Starkman/ PPPL Office of Communications" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-article-byline field-type-name field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Byline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">John Greenwald</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-headline field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Headline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">PPPL teams up with USDA to produce new egg pasteurization method</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-additional-related-gallery field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/article/additional-related-gallery/D.%20Geveke%20and%20A.%20Bigley.jpg" width="1800" height="1200" alt="USDA researchers David Geveke, left, and Andrew Bigley in the USDA&#039;s Wyndmoor, Pa., research center. " title="Joseph Sites/ USDA " /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-expert-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Expert Topics:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/engineering">Engineering</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/fusion-energy">Fusion energy</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/power-system-design">Power system design</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/power-systems">Power systems</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/quality-assurance">Quality assurance</a></div></div></div>Wed, 28 Aug 2013 13:46:15 +0000jgreenwa1567 at http://www.pppl.govNew CFO arrives at Lab with a wealth of experiencehttp://www.pppl.gov/news/2013/06/new-cfo-arrives-lab-wealth-experience
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Just a few weeks into her new job as PPPL’s chief financial officer, Kristen Fischer is settling into the challenging job of overseeing a budget of approximately $85 million and managing all financial operations. And she’s bringing her own outgoing style to the task as she forges relationships with people inside and outside of PPPL.</p><p>Fischer comes to PPPL after working 16 years at the New Jersey State Office of the Attorney General where she oversaw a $1 billion budget as director of budget and grant operations.</p><p>Fischer says she enjoyed working at the Office of the Attorney General primarily because of its public service mission. “I always felt honored to sit beside the Attorney General at budget hearings,” she said.</p><p>Now she has a similar feeling about helping scientists and engineers at PPPL with their goal of making fusion a viable energy source. “I will devote my time and work ethic towards helping them meet the mission they’re so passionate about,” she said.</p><p><strong>A wealth of experience</strong></p><p>“I'm really excited to have Kristen on board and I look forward to working with her,” said Adam Cohen, PPPL’s deputy director for operations. "She has a wealth of experience from her roles with the State of New Jersey, and brings a new perspective to a critical area of operations, that is: the business operations."</p><p>A native of Freehold Township, N.J., Fischer studied psychology at Rutgers University. She went on to get her master’s degree in business administration at Georgian Court University while she was working full-time. During part of that time, she was pregnant first with her daughter Julia Rose, now 10, and then son Andrew, 9.</p><p>She started her career working for the Office of the Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Affairs and left that position after two years to work for the Office of Legislative Services as a non-partisan fiscal analyst, advising lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on the cost of legislation. She also helped prepare the state budget. After a few years, she returned to the Attorney General’s Office where she said she had “wonderful mentors who really showed me how to do my job well.”</p><p><strong>The keeper of the purse strings</strong></p><p>Fischer rose through the ranks – eventually becoming budget director about six years ago. It wasn’t always easy being the keeper of the purse strings, she said. She was the person who had to go to division heads and tell them their funding was being cut. But she was also the one who gave them the good news – like telling officials from the New Jersey State Police there would be funding for new helicopters or new initiatives to improve security.</p><p>Fischer worked closely with the staff from the Treasurer’s Office and Governor’s Office to develop the yearly budget. She would assist New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa (who was recently named by Gov. Chris Christie to temporarily fill the seat of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, who died earlier this month) at budget hearings where legislators peppered him with questions. “It was fascinating – a very memorable experience,” she said.</p><p>When she saw the PPPL job advertised, Fischer said, she was mulling over a career change, not because she was unhappy – she liked her job – but because she was ready to try something new.</p><p>“I wanted to do something that gave me greater responsibilities and this opportunity allowed for that,” she said. “Plus, it’s Princeton – the importance of educating leaders of the future at the level that they do and to be surrounded by national experts is tremendous.”</p><p>She began work just a few days before PPPL Director Stewart Prager’s State of the Laboratory address on May 28 and when she came home, “I said to my husband, ‘I’m in awe.’ It’s amazing what they do here.” </p><p>But she admits that “there’s a learning curve” when she faces tasks like trying to procure supplies for a magnetic coil that will be built here at the Laboratory and then shipped for use on the massive international ITER fusion experiment in Cadarache, France. “That’s part of why I came here – because I felt I can apply my skills to different challenges.”</p><p><strong>Trading commutes and office settings</strong></p><p>Fischer says she has traded a 45-minute to an hour-long commute from her home in Manchester, N.J. but she has also traded highways leading straight into Trenton for country roads leading to PPPL’s more rural setting.</p><p>Her husband, Brian Fischer, is a special education teacher at Wall High School and Fischer and her family share a devotion to helping people with special needs. Fischer had a special relationship with her aunt who had Down’s syndrome. Fischer’s daughter, Julia, has raised funds for the Special Olympics.</p><p>As a busy working parent, Fischer spends most of her spare time ferrying Julia to violin lessons and Andrew to travel baseball games as well as overseeing the care of a new puppy, a Maltese-Shih-Tzu mix named Gracie Lorraine. Family vacations often involve the Fischer’s’ large extended family. When she does have some free time, she enjoys puttering around the house and gardening. </p><p><strong>A mission to learn about PPPL</strong></p><p>At PPPL, Fischer has made it her mission both to figure out how the Lab works and to meet people. She has been making the rounds of various departments to introduce herself and talk to PPPL staff about what they do. She also has been building relationships with people at the U.S. Department of Energy and at Princeton University, where she has already met with Nilufer Shroff, the chief audit and compliance officer, and will meet with Carolyn Ainslie, Princeton’s vice-president for finance and treasurer.</p><p>Fischer said she was eager to take part in a retreat with her staff planned for June 13 and is looking forward to hearing other PPPL staff members’ ideas. “I am very approachable and open to people’s suggestions and ideas for improvement,” she said. “I have an open door policy. I’m friendly - please say hello to me if you see me! As far as managerial style, I am a good listener and I want to learn, so please be patient and educate me.”</p><p> </p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-spotlight field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Spotlight:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-highlighted-related-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/article/highlighted-related-image/Kristen%20Fischer_CFO.jpg" width="1500" height="2054" alt="Kristen Fischer, PPPL&#039;s new chief financial officer " title="Photo by Elle Starkman, PPPL Office of Communications" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-article-byline field-type-name field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Byline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Jeanne Jackson DeVoe </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-headline field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Headline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New CFO arrives at Lab with a wealth of experience</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-expert-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Expert Topics:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/quality-assurance">Quality assurance</a></div></div></div>Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:05:10 +0000jdevoe1480 at http://www.pppl.govPPPL and ITER: Lab teams support the world’s largest fusion experiment with leading-edge ideas and designhttp://www.pppl.gov/news/2013/05/pppl-and-iter-lab-teams-support-world%E2%80%99s-largest-fusion-experiment-leading-edge-ideas-1
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is a key contributor to ITER, a huge international fusion facility under construction in Cadarache, France. ITER is designed to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power by the late 2020s.</p><p>PPPL provides hardware, fabrication and research and development for ITER under contract to US ITER, a DOE Office of Science project managed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The United States participates in ITER together with China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea and Russia. “It is very exciting to work on such a challenging global science project with the potential for so great a global payoff,” said PPPL physicist Dave Johnson, who heads the development of diagnostic tools for US ITER. </p><p>The PPPL tools will provide essential data during experiments on the donut-shaped, 10-story tall ITER fusion facility, or tokamak. PPPL also is procuring the bulk of the electrical network that will deliver steady-state, or constant, power across the sprawling 445-acre ITER site. PPPL contracts for these and other hardware components of the $17 billion-plus machine could total about $180 million, some $90 million of which will flow to subcontractors.</p><p>PPPL is conducting experimental and theoretical research relevant to ITER as well. For example, experiments planned for the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX), PPPL’s major fusion facility, could contribute to understanding how plasma will behave and perform in ITER. The NSTX is currently undergoing an upgrade that is doubling the strength of both its electric current and magnetic fields.</p><p>“The US ITER project office at Oak Ridge is pleased to have PPPL as a partner laboratory,” said US ITER Project Manager Ned Sauthoff. “Not only for the PPPL staff's expertise in fusion engineering, and in design and operation of nuclear fusion facilities, but also for its wealth of experience in plasma science and tokamaks.”</p><p> Here’s a look at PPPL’s role in ITER:</p><p><strong>Diagnostics.</strong> The Laboratory manages the design and production of seven diagnostic systems for ITER. These crucial instruments will help gauge the performance of the superhot, electrically charged plasma gas that will fuel fusion reactions inside the ITER tokamak. The systems include a novel, space-saving design for a device called a reflectometer that will measure the density of the plasma. Developed by scientists at Oak Ridge and the University of California at Los Angeles, the device employs a single antenna system in place of the bulkier dual-antenna system that is the current industry standard. “This should give us far more room to fit everything in,” Johnson said.</p><p>The diagnostic systems will peer into the plasma through shielded enclosures called port plugs that PPPL is designing under an agreement with the ITER Organization, which coordinates the overall international project. These 45-ton, minivan-sized plugs will be set into the tokamak’s interior walls and must withstand the electromagnetic forces inside the facility and exposure to the energetic neutrons, or subatomic particles, that come from fusion reactions.</p><p>PPPL’s solution is a modular design that fits the tightly packed diagnostic instruments into port plugs that consist of vertical drawers. This arrangement will provide clear views of the plasma while minimizing the penetration of neutrons into the port plugs. “You want high diagnostic access to the plasma together with low exposure to the neutrons,” said PPPL engineer Russ Feder, who leads the PPPL port plug design effort. “That’s the challenge.”</p><p>The innovative PPPL design will serve as the model for 18 diagnostic port plugs inside the ITER tokamak. Included in the modular design are stainless steel components called diagnostic first walls that will directly face the plasma. These components, which PPPL engineer Doug Loesser is designing, will dissipate heat and provide openings up to the size of basketball hoops for diagnostic viewing. Loesser also contributes to the port plug design.</p><p>PPPL’s final task with respect to the diagnostics will be to assemble and test four port plugs fully equipped with instruments. Testing will be done in a large vacuum tank that produces hydraulic pressure and temperature similar to the conditions the port plugs will encounter in the ITER machine. Research teams in Russia are building this port plug test facility and are slated to deliver it to PPPL by early 2017.</p><p><strong>Steady-state electrical network.</strong> PPPL is now purchasing $30 million of transformers and other electrical equipment for the network that will deliver all steady-state AC power to the ITER site. The current will run heating and cooling systems, among other functions, and light ITER buildings. Experiments on the huge tokamak itself will draw electricity from a separate system that supplies power in pulses.</p><p>Leading the procurement effort is PPPL engineer Charles Neumeyer, who also heads an international group of experts that is charged with reviewing the pulsed power systems. Working with Neumeyer is a seven-member team at PPPL whose members are drafting specifications for 16 different groups of electrical items for the steady-state system. With so much to buy, “the team is working really hard to keep up,” Neumeyer said. </p><p><strong>In-vessel coils.</strong> The superhot plasma in tokamaks can send out flares called edge localized modes (ELMs) that can erode the vessel’s plasma-facing surfaces. At PPPL, a team headed by engineer Mike Kalish is designing magnetic coils to suppress flares inside the ITER tokamak. The team’s tasks also include designing a separate set of coils to enhance the vertical stability of the plasma.</p><p>Both types of in-vessel coils must contend with neutron bombardments that could quickly wear out conventional materials. “New technology had to be developed,” Kalish said. His team’s solution: Magnets fabricated from conductors composed of a stainless steel jacket that wraps around a copper tube. The jacket and copper tube are separated by magnesium oxide insulating material. The project calls for 27 such coils for ELM suppression and two to help stabilize the plasma.</p><p>The key to PPPL’s solution was the heat- and radiation-resistant magnesium oxide, a mineral that insulates coils in harsh environments such as high-energy physics experiments. The final design phase is being done in collaboration with China’s Academy of Science Institute of Plasma Physics (ASIPP), which is building a prototype of the PPPL design. </p><p><strong>Research in support of ITER.</strong> Experiments on the revamped NSTX will support ITER in many ways. These include studies of the cause of plasma disruptions that can thwart fusion reactions by allowing the plasma to flash apart. Such research could help developers of ITER create tools to mitigate the disruptions. “If you want to design new tools, you have to understand the physics, and our experiments can help with that,” said Masayuki Ono, project director of the NSTX.</p><p>PPPL also conducts purely theoretical studies on ITER’s behalf. PPPL physicist Stephen Jardin is developing a computer model to simulate the impact of large-scale disruptions inside the ITER tokamak. The study, which Jardin is conducting under a three-year contract with the ITER Organization, will be used to show that the tokamak can withstand the force that a worst-case major disruption would produce.</p><p>PPPL participates in international forums for ITER as well. PPPL scientists serve on panels of a group called the International Tokamak Physics Activity (ITPA) that brings together researchers from all the ITER partners. The panels plan experiments on topics, such as how to control ELMs, that members can conduct on their own fusion facilities and then compare results. “Research done in that way equals more than the sum of its parts,” said PPPL physicist J. R. “Randy” Wilson, who heads international collaborations at the Laboratory and serves on the ITPA coordinating committee. “You get more understanding that way.”</p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-spotlight field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Spotlight:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-highlighted-related-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/article/highlighted-related-image/Iter%20Group%20Final%208.jpg" width="2147" height="1500" alt="PPPL scientists, engineers, technicians and other specialists contribute to the international project." title="Elle Starkman/ PPPL Office of Communications" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-article-byline field-type-name field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Byline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">John Greenwald</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-headline field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Headline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">PPPL and ITER: Lab teams support the world’s largest fusion experiment with leading-edge ideas and design</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-additional-related-gallery field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/article/additional-related-gallery/AERIAL_FEB_2013_FINAL%20%284%29.jpg" width="5600" height="3733" alt="Aerial view of the ITER construction site" title="ITER" /></div><div class="field-item odd"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/article/additional-related-gallery/in-cryostat-section_rev-3_small.jpg" width="4725" height="3850" alt="Computer-aided design image of ITER tokamak" title="ITER" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-expert-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Expert Topics:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/ac-power">AC power</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/engineering">Engineering</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/fusion-energy">Fusion energy</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/fusion-reactor-design">Fusion reactor design</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/fusion-roadmapping">Fusion roadmapping</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/international-collaborations">International collaborations</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/iter">ITER</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/laser-diagnostics">Laser diagnostics</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/nuclear-energy">Nuclear energy</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/nuclear-safety">Nuclear safety</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/plasma-diagnostics">Plasma diagnostics</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/plasma-physics">Plasma physics</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/power-system-design">Power system design</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/power-systems">Power systems</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/quality-assurance">Quality assurance</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/tokamaks">Tokamaks</a></div></div></div>Tue, 07 May 2013 18:52:38 +0000jgreenwa1450 at http://www.pppl.govPPPL and Princeton scientists developing a novel system for verifying nuclear warheadshttp://www.pppl.gov/news/2013/04/pppl-and-princeton-scientists-developing-novel-system-verifying-nuclear-warheads-0
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Scientists at Princeton University and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) are developing a unique process to verify that nuclear weapons to be dismantled or removed from deployment contain true warheads. The system could confirm this without measuring classified information that could lead to nuclear proliferation if the data were to be leaked.</p><p>The novel verification process draws upon principles used in cryptography, the science of disguising secret information. “The goal is to prove with as high confidence as required that an object is a true nuclear warhead while learning nothing about the materials and design of the warhead itself,” said physicist Robert Goldston, a co-principal investigator for the project and professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton, and a fusion researcher and former director of PPPL</p><p>Goldston and Princeton physicist Alexander Glaser, working with PPPL engineer Charles Gentile, have begun building an experimental system at PPPL to probe a DOE-approved, unclassified, and steel-encased test object containing non-nuclear materials. The project, funded by grants of $100,000 from the U.S. State Department and $162,500 from Global Zero, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating all nuclear weapons, would mimic the procedure for inspecting warheads. They hope to complete the first full phase of experiments by the end of the year.</p><p>Glaser and Goldston both are associated with Princeton’s Program in Science and Global Security.</p><p>The idea behind the warhead verification system is surprisingly simple. It calls for comparing a nuclear warhead that is presented for inspection with a presumed identical one—sometimes called a “golden warhead”—that is known to be real and armed with fissile, or explosive, nuclear material. “You just need to know that one warhead is good, and if you can verify that one you can verify others,” said Glaser, an assistant professor in Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.</p><p>Such a “zero-knowledge protocol” for verifying warheads could create a new tool for global arms control efforts. While the total number of nuclear weapons in the United States and Russian arsenals has shrunk from more than 60,000 reported deployed and non-deployed warheads during the Cold War to some 16,000 reported today, this has been achieved without verification of the actual contents of the warheads. Arms inspectors have instead counted the reduction of nuclear weapon delivery systems, such as submarines and missile silos, without requiring or verifying the dismantlement of the warheads themselves.</p><p>“It is certainly true that if a workable zero-knowledge approach proves feasible, it would greatly facilitate nuclear warhead reduction regime verifications,” said James Fuller, an independent consultant and former director of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Programs at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. </p><p>The PPPL project aims to show that the zero-knowledge verification process can work. “We know it is doable in theory, but will a hardware implementation used under real-world conditions be sensitive enough to detect meaningful differences and violations?” said Glaser, who thought up the system with Goldston and Boaz Barak, a former Princeton associate professor of computer science and now a senior researcher at Microsoft Research New England. Similar verification processes are regularly used online to authenticate passwords and other encrypted data, Glaser noted.</p><p>The warhead verification system would work like this:</p><p>• Arms inspectors beam high-energy neutrons at the presumed nuclear warhead and record how many pass through the warhead to an array of radiation detectors on the other side. Neutrons that fail to reach the detector have been absorbed or scattered by the material inside the warhead.</p><p>• The neutrons that do reach the detectors are counted and added to the number that the host nation whose warheads are being inspected had “preloaded” into the detectors. Inspectors would measure the total number of counts in the detectors without knowing how many had been preloaded. This total count could be straightforwardly tallied with non-electronic neutron counters such as the personal dosimeters used to measure exposure to radiation in nuclear power plants.</p><p>• If the total number of counts matched the number that the parties had stipulated in advance, the warhead would be found to be a true one. But if the total differed from the stipulated number, the warhead would stand exposed as a spoof. To prevent cheating by preloading detectors in such a way that a spoof would pass the test, the inspector decides on the spot which preloaded detectors will be used on the “golden warhead” and which on the item offered for inspection.</p><p>• An alternative approach would be to make measurements on a large set of putative warheads, including some selected by the inspector from among deployed missiles. Since at least some of the deployed warheads would be real, if all of the warheads are measured to be identical, all are real.</p><p>Glaser views this zero-knowledge protocol as an incentive to support and facilitate future nuclear arms talks. “I think it will be important to have this on the table when people think about an inspection system,” Glaser said. “Many will say that it’s impossible to verify nuclear warheads without running the risk of leaking classified information and so contributing to nuclear proliferation. It would be a powerful argument to show that in principle, and even in real experiments, you can build a system that never measures any properties of objects but still verifies that they are identical to one another, and can achieve this to whatever level of accuracy is required.”</p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-spotlight field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Spotlight:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-highlighted-related-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.pppl.gov/sites/pppl/files/article/highlighted-related-image/13X0412_20F_1.jpg" width="882" height="568" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-article-byline field-type-name field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Byline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">John Greenwald</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-headline field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Headline:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">PPPL and Princeton scientists developing a novel system for verifying nuclear warheads</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-expert-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Expert Topics:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/engineering">Engineering</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/nuclear-energy">Nuclear energy</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/about/learn-more/nuclear-safety">Nuclear safety</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/about/learn-more/quality-assurance">Quality assurance</a></div></div></div>Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:17:28 +0000jgreenwa1435 at http://www.pppl.gov